Railway track switch connecting mechanism



Feb. 2, 1943. H. L. BONE RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH CONNECTING MECHANISMS Original Filed Nov. 24, 1939 INV NTOR Haw!) 11.50129.

HIS AfToRNEY Patented Feb. 2, 1943 RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH CONNECTING MECHANISM Herbert L. Bone, Forest Hills, Pa., assignor to The Union Switch & Signal Company, Swissvale, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application November 24, 1939, Serial No. 305,861, now Patent No. 2,245,427, dated June 10, 1941. Divided and this application October 31, 1940, Serial No. 363,659

3 Claims.

My invention relates to railway track switch connecting mechanisms of the type employed to connect a. switch circuit controller connecting rod to a switch point and to a switch circuit controller.

Thi application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 305,861, filed on November 24, 1939, now Patent No. 2,245,427, dated June 10, 1941, for Railway track switch connecting mechanism.

Railway switch circuit controllers are employed in the railway signaling art to detect and register movements of switch points with respect to the associated track rails. To assure safe and reliable operation of trains over a switch, the connections between a switch point and its associated circuit controller must be such that relatively small movements of the point are detected, since otherwise a switch point might creep open without causing the signal controlling trafiic over the switch to assume a restrictive indication. To protect against permitting movements of the point to go unregistered due to lost motion in the connecting parts, it has been the practice to utilize ball-and-socket connections provided with resilient means capable of taking of automatically any lost motion between the parts. In the usual form of such connecting mechanisms, the resilient means employed are required not only to take up lost motion, but also to transmit force during a movement of the connecting members in at least one direction. As a consequence, the resilient mean must be designed to accommodate the increased pressures caused by the thrust of the connecting members, and, being subject to frequent stresses of relatively great proportions, are exposed to the danger of breaking because of undue flexing. In addition, there is also the danger that the resilient means might yield to the thrust and not transmit the force, thereby permitting a movement of the switch point to go unregistered.

Other forms of connecting mechanisms have been proposed wherein the resilient means employed are disposed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of movement of the connecting members, thereby enabling forces to be transmitted directly from one member to the other and requiring the resilient means only to take up lost motion in the connection a it occurs. Such connecting mechanisms, however, generally are designed and arranged so as to be available either for right-hand or left-hand connections, but not both, and generally one or the other of the two members to be connected together is required to be disconnected from its associated apparatus in order to enable the connection to be effected.

My invention provides a novel and improved connecting mechanism wherein lost motion is taken up automatically as it occurs by resilient means arranged out of the plane of movement of the connected members. More particularly, my invention provides a connecting mechanism of the above described type arranged to be employed universally as either a right-hand or lefthand connector, and capable of being assembled to connect together the members to be joined by r the connector without requiring such members to be disconnected from the associated apparatus. In addition, my invention is directed to providing a, connection between a standard A. A. R. switch lug and a circuit controller connecting rod by means of a connector economical to construct, easily maintained and inspected, and involving relatively few parts.

I shall describe one form of a connecting mechanism embodying my invention, and shall then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view, partially sectional, of a standard A. A. R. switch lug and a connecting mechanism embodying my invention for connecting the switch lug to a switch circuit controller connecting rod. Fig. 2 is a sectional view, taken on the line 11-11 of Fig. 1, of a connecting mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating a modification of a portion of a connecting mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Similar reference characters have been employed to designate corresponding parts in each of the several views of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character l designates a standard A. A. R. switch lug, the upper end (as viewed in Fig. 1) of which is preferably connected in any suitable manner, not shown, to a switch point of a railway track switch, and the other end of which is formed with a conical taper toward its free end. A connectin rod 26 is connected at one end to lug l in a manner shortly to be described, and its other end (not shown) is preferably connected to a switch circuit controller to operate the controller in response to movement of the switch point.

Connecting rod 26 is provided on its one end with an enlarged section (see Fig. 2) provided with a laterally extending bore or hole 5 formed or provided with a cupped surface. For example, as shown, bore 5 may be cylindrical and be provided with a cupped bushing 6 pressed into the opening. Bearing segments 8 divided into three (see Fig. 2) or four (see segments 9 of Fig. 3) parts are provided and are formed with an external surface shaped to fit cupped bushing 6 and an internal surface curved to conform to the conical taper of lug 7 so that when the segments are in place as shown in the drawing, and lug I is inserted through the bore 5 of rod 26, the bearing segments engage both lug 1 and bushing 6 to connect lug l to rod 26. The segments 8 are held in engagement with lug I and bushing 6 by means of a washer I which engages one side vof the segments and which is acted upon by a spring II surrounding lug 1 and interposed between washer l0 and another washer 12, the latter washer being backed up by a nut l3 threaded on the extreme free end of lug 1. Nut I3 is pre- V vented from loosening by a cotter pin I4.

A pressure grease fitting 45 is shown in Fig. 2 threaded into a hole drilled in the side of the connecting rod 26, the hole communicating with the lateral opening of the rod for permitting pressure lubrication of the connecting parts. If desired, however, the .ball segment may be formed of oil impregnated bearing material, such for example, as the type commercially known as Oilite. Ball segments of the latter type are represented in Fig. 3, and by virtue of the selflubricating qualities of the material employed, no pressure grease fitting is required.

It is readily apparent from the foregoing description of the connecting mechanism embodying my invention that spring II urges segments 8 into intimate contact with both lug 7 and cupped bushing 6, thereby providing a connector wherein forces are transmitted directly from one member to the other and in which lost motion between the parts is taken up automatically due to the force of the spring H. It is further apparent that my invention provides a universal connecting mechanism capable of establishing both right-hand and left-hand connections between the switch lug and connecting rod. That is to say, the connector may be employed as shown where lug 1 is inserted into opening 5 of rod 26 from the top, as viewed in the drawing, or if desired the lug may be inserted from the other side of the rod. Also, the connector may be assembled without requiring either lug I or rod 26 to be disconnected from the associated switch point or circuit controller, and the number of parts or elements of the connector is reduced to a minimum, thereby providing a connector economical to construct and readily assembled and maintained.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of a connecting mechanism embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

1. In combination, a connecting rod having at one end thereof a laterally extending opening provided with a concave bearing surface conforming to the circumference of a sphere having its center at the center of said opening, a tapered force transmitting member adapted to be secured to an operative member and extending through said opening, bearing segments surrounding said member and shaped externally to conform to said bearing surface and internally to conform to said tapered member, and a compression spring surrounding said force transmitting member and interposed between said bearing segments and the free end of said tapered member for urging said bearing segments into constant engagement with both said tapered member and the bearing surface of said rod, whereby a connection is effected between said rod and said tapered member which transmits forces directly from said tapered member to said rod and lost motion between the parts of the connection is prevented by virtue of said biasing means.

2. In combination, a connecting rod provided at one end thereof with a laterally extending cylindrical opening, a tapered force transmitting member adapted to be secured to an operative member and extending from beyond one side of said opening entirely through the opening and terminating at a point beyond the other side of the opening, a bushing pressed into said opening provided with a concave bearing surface conforming to the circumference of a sphere having its center at the center of said opening, bearing segments surrounding said tapered member and shaped externally to conform to the concave bearing surface of said bushing and internally to conform to said tapered member, and biasing means for urging said bearing segments into constant engagement with both said tapered member and said bushing, whereby a connection is effected between said rod and said tapered member which transmits forces directly from said tapered member to said rod and lost motion between the parts of the connection is prevented by virtue of said biasing means.

3. In combination, a connecting rod provided at one end thereof with a laterally extending cylindrical opening, a tapered force transmitting member adapted to be secured to an operative member and extending through said opening, a bushing pressed into said opening provided with a concave bearing surface conforming to the circumference of a sphere having its center at the center of said opening, bearing segments surrounding said tapered member and shaped externally to conform to said bushing and internally to conform to said tapered member, and a compression spring surrounding said tapered member and interposed between said bearing segments and the free end of said tapered member for urging said bearing segments into constant engagement with both said tapered member and said bushing, whereby a connection is effected between said rod and said tapered member which transmits forces directly from said tapered member to said rod and lost motion between the parts of the connection is prevented by virtue of said biasing means.

HERBERT L. BONE. 

